OBSERVATIONS / RECOLLECTIONS / STORIES

He, who will not reason, is a bigot; he, who cannot, is a fool; and he, who dares not, is a slave.

— Sir William Drummond

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Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.

— Blaise Pascal

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They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

— Carl W. Buehner

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Patriotism is being proud of a country’s virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country’s virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It wants to be, and proclaims itself to be, “the greatest,” but greatness is not required of a country; only goodness is.

The “Chile Capital of the World” is a fun and interesting place. Stopping for a visit never gets old.

The little town is surrounded by vast fields of chile pepper plants. Something in the soil agrees with certain varieties of peppers, and the local farmers have taken advantage of it for the last century.

Naturally, numerous shops around town sell all forms of the product — fresh, cooked, dried, powdered, frozen — as well as souvenirs of the town, the state, and the region.

Also, Hatch is only 100 miles from Mexico, so Talavera pottery is everywhere.

The prices are low, and I have a grand time perusing the merchandise. As if I need more Talavera pottery.

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Meridian, Mississippi

On Day 11, I stopped for lunch in Meridian and pulled into the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant.

Immediately, a large brown dog appeared. He sat at attention next to the RV, wagging his tail furiously and looking up at me. He was a big, short-haired, pitbull-looking dog. He seemed friendly, but I was a little apprehensive when I got out of the RV.

No worries. he took the lead and escorted me to the restaurant entrance, looking back frequently over his shoulder. At the door, he stepped aside and sat at attention again, tail still wagging. Amused and bewildered, I went inside.

My table had a view of the entrance and the dog sitting outside quietly. Suddenly, he leapt to his feet and disappeared from view.

But not for long. He returned, escorting more people to the restaurant. They entered, and he resumed his sitting position at the door.

A few minutes later, a couple paid their check and left the restaurant. The dog escorted them to their car, then returned to his station.

While I ate, he escorted numerous customers to and from the restaurant. He never got uncomfortably close to anyone, never begged for food or attention. He was just, well, escorting the customers.

I flagged down the waitress. I had to ask about the dog.

“He showed up about a month ago,” she said. “Nobody knows where he came from or where he goes at night, but he’s always here when we get to work. We call him Jeeves.”

The employees had asked around, but no one knew anything about Jeeves. Nor could they explain his behavior with the customers. Some thought he was looking for his owner.

Jeeves was always friendly and a gentleman, the waitress said, and no customers had complained, so they saw to reason to call Animal Control.

A girl’s voice came from the booth behind me. “Mom, can I go over by the door and look at the dog?”

“Okay, honey, but stay inside.”

The little girl stood beside the glass door for several minutes, studying Jeeves. I was compelled to step into the aisle and take a photo.

When the waitress brought my check, I asked what Jeeves did about food. Did he fend for himself — like, eating out of garbage cans?

“Oh, no, Jeeves is well taken care of. He gets all the restaurant leftovers he can handle.”

After lunch, Jeeves escorted me to the RV, then trotted back to his post at the front door.

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Jefferson, Georgia

As always, it was good to be home. I sprung Jake from the kennel, and we resumed our routines.

Among my mementos of the trip was a $10 ristra I bought in Hatch. I found a suitable spot in the living room to hang it.

I didn’t set out to create a Southwest theme, but it seems to have materialized anyway.

A good road trip is satisfying and therapeutic. But, a few months from now, I’ll start getting antsy to go somewhere again.

To a degree, the destination will matter. But not as much as the doing of the thing.

35 miles east of Grand Canyon National Park, well into the Navajo rez, is the venerable Cameron Trading Post, established on the banks of the Little Colorado River in 1911.

This remote place is a veritable oasis. It consists of the trading post, restaurant, motel, gas station, RV park, gift shop, and, one of my favorite stops, a truly awe-inspiring art gallery.

Everything in the Cameron gallery is premium quality, some of it modern, some of considerable age, all for sale. Most of the merchandise sells for many hundreds, even thousands of dollars.

Pay no attention to that man behind the pottery.

But I think of the gallery as more of a museum than a store. I go there to admire and enjoy the merchandise, not to buy anything. The touristy gift shop next door is more my speed.

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Tuba City, Arizona

25 miles beyond Cameron is Tuba City, one of the larger towns in Navajoland.

Traffic when I arrived was unusually heavy, and, in fact, eventually stopped moving at all. Police vehicles were directing drivers in both directions to pull over.

In the distance, I could see why. A hundred or more men on horseback were approaching in a slow, solemn procession. The only sound was the clopping of hooves on the pavement.

I knew immediately what was up. The next day was Veterans Day, and the Tuba City veterans had turned out for a Saturday morning parade. In the procession with the horsemen were several cars carrying older veterans.

The scene was genuinely moving. Despite a lump to my throat and a tear in my eye, I grabbed my camera.

After I shot the video, a young rider peeled off from the group and rode over to my RV. The van sits high, so we were at eye level.

“Yah-ta-hey. Where you from, sir?” he said. I told him.

“You a veteran?” I said I was indeed.

We shook hands and introduced ourselves. He said he was in Afghanistan with the Army. I told him my service was Air Force, Vietnam era. He tipped his hat, wished me a safe trip, reined his horse around, and rejoined the procession.

I later learned it was Tuba City’s first Veterans Day parade. A lavish lunch was waiting for the veterans and their families next to the local VA office.

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Ganado, Arizona

The Navajo town of Ganado is the home of Hubbell Trading Post, founded in 1878 and now a National Historic Site.

Hubbell is still in business. In addition to being a grocery store for the locals, it has an eye-popping selection of Navajo rugs and baskets, old and new.

This year, the entrance fee at Grand Canyon National Park went up to $35 per vehicle. But I laugh at entrance fees. On Day 7 of my trip, when I arrived at the South Rim entrance gate, I flashed my lifetime Senior Pass and got in for free. Ha!

Actually, the geezer pass itself has become rather pricey. The cost of the lifetime pass is now $80. I got mine 10 years ago for $10. Ha!

For the record, this trip marked (drum roll) my 26th visit to Grand Canyon National Park. It also marked the first time I showed up without reservations.

If you’re familiar with the crowds and the limited accommodations at South Rim, that’s really betting long odds. Vacancies are rare and ephemeral.

Yes, you do have options. A campground and numerous motels are available in the village of Tusayan, seven miles outside the park. But, other than services, Tusayan has few redeeming qualities.

Tusayan is where tourists can watch an Imax movie showing them the wonders of Grand Canyon. Tusayan is where all the souvenirs are made in China.

That morning, my first stop in the Park was the RV campground. No vacancies.

My second stop was the front desk at Bright Angel Lodge. I approached one of the clerks and gave her an engaging smile.

“Hi,” I said. “I’ve been coming to Grand Canyon for 25 years, and this is the first time I’ve showed up without reservations. Any chance you guys have a vacancy, in any of the lodges?”

“Ten minutes ago, the answer was no,” she said. “But we just got a cancellation for a room at Thunderbird Lodge. Just for one night.”

My heart fluttered.

“You’re lucky,” she added. “It’s a room with a canyon view.”

A room with a canyon view? Rooms with a canyon view are for rich people and visiting royalty, not for ordinary folks like me. I nearly swooned.

As it turned out, the view was somewhat less spectacular than I envisioned. The room was on the second floor, and you looked out at the roof of the first floor.

But it was still a treat.

The weather was beautiful, if a little cold. For the rest of the morning, I walked along the rim, enjoying the views and taking photos. I’ve shot the same scenes countless times over the years, but I keep shooting them anyway.

I also wandered through the usual gift shops and bought a couple of magnets and decals.

At Hopi House, a gallery featuring high-quality Native American crafts, I came across a small, handsome Hopi seed pot that I didn’t need, but nonetheless was drawn to.

I resisted the urge to purchase it for quite a while.

Later, while walking along the rim behind Bright Angel Lodge, I noticed a small paper bag that someone had left on the stone railing. The bag bore the logo of Xanterra, the company that runs the shops and concessions. It probably contained souvenirs.

Bright Angel Lodge has a lost-and-found service, so I figured I would take it there.

As I reached down to pick it up, a raven landed on the railing a few feet away, looking at me in that weird, bug-eyed way birds have.

Ravens are everywhere at Grand Canyon. They are accomplished scavengers and thieves with little fear of humans. They’re also sleek and beautiful. I raised my camera to get a photo.

Simultaneously, he hopped closer and grabbed the paper bag.

He launched skyward, flapping mightily, taking the bag with him. But he underestimated Rocky Smith. I snatched the bag from him in mid-flap, and the little pirate only got a torn piece of brown paper.

Inside the bag were a few postcards, a bookmark, and an “I Hiked the Canyon” bumper sticker. I dropped off the bag at Lost and Found.

That evening, I had prime rib at the Arizona Room, one of the better restaurants at South Rim. Afterward, I walked along the rim for a while. The night was chilly, but I was bundled up.

I marveled, as always, at how the constellations and the Milky Way stand out so clearly at Grand Canyon. Especially in winter, the night sky defies description.

This twilight photo is pretty good.

After a beer at the Bright Angel Bar, I retired to my room, pulled a chair up to the window, turned out the lights, and sat contemplating the stars.

The next morning, I checked at the front desk to see if another cancellation had materialized. The answer was no. If I wanted to stay longer, I would have to bed down in Tusayan.

I decided to move on.

In my next post, my trip continues east across the Navajo and Hopi reservations.

Flagstaff is a fun, funky, free-spirited place. It’s a mountain town, a college town (Northern Arizona University), and a ski resort. You can make day trips to Sedona, Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, and the Navajo and Hopi reservations. Young, outdoorsy people are everywhere.

To me, this mural in a downtown alley, one block from Route 66, is typical of the vibe.

When I’m in Flagstaff, I visit certain attractions, shop at certain stores, and eat at certain restaurants. Which ones will vary a bit from trip to trip, but I have a list of favorites.

On this trip, I wandered through the shops of the Indian traders downtown, and I went to the Museum of Northern Arizona, which has a world-class collection of Native American art and artifacts.

MNA also has one of the best gift shops on the planet for high-end Native American stuff.

Among my notable dining experiences were a fine breakfast at La Belavia,

a superb lunch at Diablo’s, home of the Diablo Burger,

and a soul-satisfying supper at Beaver Street Brewery, where I am partial to the brewer’s platter.

Earlier, to preemptively walk off some of the calories, I drove a few miles north of town to a picnic area with a great view of Humphreys Peak (which, in a few weeks, will be snow-capped until well into next summer),

and, for an hour, I walked the trails under the ponderosa pines.

On this trip, Flagstaff was the only place I stayed two nights. I couldn’t resist.

On the morning of Day 6, I left Flagstaff for Grand Canyon. This was the first time in 25 years I would show up at the park without reservations. It was a long shot, but I was hoping someone had canceled at the last minute, and I would be there to claim the room.

It’s a familiar feeling. When I haven’t been on the road in a while, I start to get antsy.

Thus, not having been out of Georgia since June, and facing a two-week period when nothing of consequence was on my schedule, I decided an RV trip to Arizona was in order.

I made no advance arrangements, which was a rarity. I simply would drive to Grand Canyon and back, camping along the way. The details would take care of themselves.

I headed west via I-40 (the northern route below) and returned home across southern New Mexico and central Texas on non-interstate highways. In Shreveport, I picked up I-20 back to Georgia. About 3,600 miles, round trip.

Other than the unpleasantness of the Interstate driving, it was a terrific trip. All good, all enjoyable. Free of trouble and disappointments.

A few times, campgrounds weren’t convenient, so I got a motel room. Not exactly a calamity. I also had genuine good luck a few times, as I will explain.

I’m home now, and the adventure is over. My co-pilot Jake was worn out from adventures of his own at the kennel, the nature of which will remain a mystery.

Here are some recollections and observations from the trip.

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Jasper, Alabama

By the time I crossed into Alabama on Day 1, a light rain was falling, and it was obvious that my windshield wipers needed replacing. To deal with that, I stopped at the Walmart in Jasper, just west of Birmingham.

The lady at the automotive counter wrote up a work order. I handed her my keys and went into the waiting room, hoping they would be quick. They were. I was back on the road in 30 minutes.

Two people were in the waiting room: an African-American woman and her daughter of about four. The girl was a tiny thing. The soles of her shoes were 12 inches above the floor. I sat down, nodded to the mom, and smiled at the little girl.

The little girl waved. “Hello, old man,” she said cheerily.

“Alicia!” the mother barked, “That is rude! You shouldn’t call this gentleman an old man!”

Alicia’s chin dropped to her chest. She made a sour face and began to cry.

“You’re wrong, Mama!” she said amid the blubbering, “I was not being rude! He IS an old man! I was just saying hello to be friendly!”

The mom was working on a reply when the little girl turned to me, blinking back the tears. “What’s your name, old man?” she asked.

“My name is Rocky. And you’re right, I’m pretty old.”

“See, Mama! See!”

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Forrest City, Arkansas

At the end of the day, I camped at a state park in eastern Arkansas. I took the above photo of the waning twilight as I sat at the picnic table, having a toddy and watching the bats fly around.

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Acoma, New Mexico

The people of Acoma Pueblo are an admirable and interesting bunch. Much of their pottery, jewelry, and other art is tasteful and elegant. Sky City, their historic home atop a remote mesa, is a fascinating place to visit.

And, like many tribes these days, they are savvy and enterprising. To take advantage of — make that cater to — the tourists traveling on I-40, they operate a major complex at Exit 102 consisting of a travel plaza, restaurants, a campground, a snazzy hotel, and a modern casino.

At the end of Day 3, I stopped for the night at the Acoma campground. After hooking up the RV and having dinner at the hotel, I decided to do a bit of gambling at the casino.

When I gamble, which is a rare thing, I stick to the slot machines because they require so little skill. And I have a system of sorts that has served me pretty well over the years: (1) I play the dollar slots, (2) I always bet the maximum for the machine, usually three dollars per spin, and (3) when I’ve lost $100, I walk away.

With slot machines, the payoff is puny when you bet the minimum, but much higher when you bet the maximum. To make a lucky spin count, you bet the maximum. Simple and logical.

I chose a machine, sat down, and, in the course of 15 minutes, played my way through two $20 bills. I won a little and lost a little until the machine bested me.

On the third $20 bill, I won $75, which I cashed out in the form of a voucher.

I continued playing, still betting the maximum. On my last $20, I got lucky again and won $200, which I also cashed out as a voucher.

A few minutes later, my original $100 was gone. I got up, took the $75 and $200 vouchers to the cashier, and departed the casino $175 richer than when I entered.

The campground cost $15, and dinner was $20, so, technically, my take was $140.

When visiting the Southwest, I’m on the lookout for pottery, rugs, baskets, kachinas, and other treasures for my collection of Native American arts and crafts. I don’t need more stuff, but I like it, and I rarely go home without something new.

A great place to find such items is Gallup, which probably has 40 or 50 retail stores and trading posts that sell the work of regional craftsmen — Zuni, Navajo, Hopi, the pueblo tribes, and others.

When I arrived in Gallup on Day 4, I was open to anything appealing and priced right, but I was especially interested in silver rings. Namely, this inlaid, continuous-band style:

The design is Zuni. Hopi and Navajo rings tend to be silver without inlays.

Prices range from $10 to $300, depending on the quality of the work and the artist. $50 is about my limit, but good deals are everywhere.

By the end of the morning, I had purchased these three rings for about $30 each:

When you’re out west, it’s important to take advantage of the authentic Mexican cuisine. For lunch, I went to El Sombrero, a favorite place of mine in Gallup.

El Sombrero serves an excellent chili con carne made with red and green chiles from Hatch, the legendary chile town in the southern Rio Grand Valley.

This is the good stuff, people. The genuine taste of New Mexico.

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Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico

After lunch, I left Gallup and drove south to Zuni, which is probably the least pueblo-like of the New Mexican pueblos. No offense, but Zuni is drab and unremarkable. It is, in reality, just a small, dusty town.

Signage isn’t their thing, either. Small retail shops are plentiful, but you have to look hard to find them.

In one such hole-in-the wall establishment, I made a great deal on this handsome Zuni pot, which, FYI, is 4″ tall and 3″ in diameter.

Nothing else in my collection features a butterfly, so I’m pleased.

From Zuni, I drove west into into Arizona, turned north, and by suppertime was in Flagstaff, one of my favorite towns anywhere.